In French, things are either masculine (masculin) or feminine (féminin). There are no rules (or not many) to explain why a chair (une chaise) is feminine or why a keyboard (un clavier) is masculine.
The adjective agrees in gender with the subject. Most of the time, add an "e" to the adjective to make it become feminine.
Un homme (a man) is masculine and "a perfect man" is spelled:
Une femme (a woman) is feminine. So "a perfect woman" is spelled:
When an adjective "naturally" ends with "e", its feminine form ending remains the same.
When an adjective "naturally" ends with "x", its feminine form ending is "se". The most common example is:
Do you need more examples ? OK, here they are:
|
Masculine |
Feminine |
English |
|
content |
contente |
happy |
|
lent |
lente |
slow |
|
gourmand |
gourmande |
fond of good food |
|
deçu |
deçue |
disappointed |
|
timide |
timide |
shy |
|
malade |
malade |
sick |
|
amoureux |
amoureuse |
in love |
Most of the time, adding an "s" to the adjective ending is enough to make it plural. For example:
An adjective, ending with "x", remains the same in the plural. For example:
Some examples:
|
Gender |
Single |
Plural |
English |
|
Male |
content |
contents |
happy |
|
Feminine |
contente |
contentes |
|
|
Masculine |
lent |
lents |
slow |
|
Feminine |
lente |
lentes |
|
|
Masculine |
gourmand |
gourmands |
fond of good food |
|
Feminine |
gourmande |
gourmandes |
|
|
Masculine |
deçu |
deçus |
disappointed |
|
Feminine |
deçue |
deçues |
|
|
Masculine |
amoureux |
amoureux |
in love |
|
Feminine |
amoureuse |
amoureuses |
| Related Questions (Ask one) |